Branagh Cabana: December

our little christmas elf

Merry Christmas! Grady and I started the month off with a trip to visit the Angelo Family in Seattle. I was supposed to go last year, and I had to cancel the trip...meaning I hadn't seen Jen in almost 3 years!! She was pregnant with her second son, Gannon, who was born late December! We had a great visit, despite the lack of sleep Grady and I were running on and Riley having bronchitis. It was great to catch up with Jen and Nate and to see what a wonderful, fun, little boy Riley has become. I know Riley in the end liked having us around, but he spent most of the time telling Grady to "Shhhh! Be quiet! Tell him to stop making those noises!"...and trying to keep Grady away from his special toys...of course, all Grady wanted to do was follow him around and "talk" to him with his grunts and yells! Grady loved Riley! And I think Grady was a good prep for Riley and his new baby brother! We can't wait to see you guys again and meet Baby Gannon!

Of the whole 3 days I was there, somehow I managed to only get a pic of the two boys in the tub together!

Grady and Riley

We got home from Seattle and decorated the house...it was so fun because I really hadn't gotten out our Christmas things in 2 years...last year we weren't around much in December and I didn't want to have to put everything away 8 months pregnant. Unfortuanately, I didn't take very good pictures. But here is a little video of Grady and Daddy being silly at dinner, and you can see our little tree in the background. John was telling me a story about dipping a cookie in his coffee and for some reason Grady thought it was hilarious! So we went with it.

A side note...we don't have our light fixtures up in our living/dining rooms yet...that's why the video is so dark! We have been eating by candlelight every night...our neighbors probably think we are the most romantic family ever! And we didn't have window treatments up until late December, so you could literally see everything from the street! Haha.

So we thought Grady was going to be walking by Christmas...he had been taking little steps here and there and was standing completely on his own. I happen to catch this video where he actually took several steps in a row! But he wasn't walking by Christmas! Soon...

We also went to see Santa! Grady saw too much of Santa before he was placed in his lap...therefore, he was NOT happy! Malin, on the other hand, smiled away for the photo session! I don't think she ever had any idea whose lap she was sitting in! G has on one of John's old Christmas outfits from when he was a kid...he looked pretty cute!

Mason, Elyse, Malin, Grady at our little Chrismas party

We celebrated Christmas early with Tom, Diane, Nat, and the Stone family because we were in Tulsa for the holiday. Nat got Grady a walker wagon...he loves it! He especially loves pushing his little cousin Malin in it!

Off to Texas! Grady and I left for Dallas/Fort Worth on the 19th...had some good Texas time before driving to Tulsa with Whit and Fiona. This was probably our hardest plane flight so far, and we have been on many! Grady was just so mobile, he didn't want to sit still and didn't want to sleep. But we made it! It's always good to be in Fort Worth...everything feels so familiar and comfortable. Except for the 80 degree weather at Christmas! Spent some great time with friends...it's important to me for Grady to get to spend time with our friends and their kids too...they will always be an important part of our lives and I want him to know them.

We headed to Tulsa the 23rd (John flew in that night too) and stayed there for the week! Christmas was fun with Grady! I know it will be even better next year when he actually knows what is going on. Unlike our time in Texas in the "heat", Tulsa was freezing! Almost too cold to go outside some days...so we spent a lot of time resting and relaxing by the fire...it was great! We had dinner with my grandparents Christmas Eve, which was such special time...normally when we see them it is a crowd, which is great, but it was so nice to have one on one time with them. Mom, of course, had been cooking for days before we got there! So we ate good all week long! We also got to celebrate Whit's birthday early with Mexican dinner...and black beans!!